According to Knight Frank (UK), the number of super-rich people in Vietnam nearly doubled in the past five years, from 583 in 2017 to 1,059 people by the end of 2022.

The super-rich are individuals who own assets of at least 30 million USD.

On the Vietnamese stock exchange, the number of super-rich people is about 150. The rest are those who have not had or had few shares listed on the stock market, including Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga (BRG), Mr. Vu Van Tien, Mr. Dao Hong Tuyen, and Mr. Johnathan Hanh Nguyen.

The sharp increase in the number of super-rich in Vietnam is considered a surprise when the economy experienced several difficult years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the financial and real estate crisis. 

Vietnam has six USD billionaires

On the list of world dollar billionaires in 2023 released by Forbes Magazine in early April, Vietnam had six representatives. Their total asset value reached 12.6 billion USD, down 8.6 billion USD compared to last year.

Vingroup (VIC) Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong ranked first with 4.3 billion USD. President of VietJet Air (VJC) Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao was in second place with 2.2 billion USD.

Hoa Phat President (HPG) Tran Dinh Long rose to third place after a period of decline (and once dropped off the list) with 1.8 billion USD.

Chairman of Techcombank (TCB) Ho Hung Anh, Thaco Chairman Tran Ba Duong, and Masan Chairman (MSN) Nguyen Dang Quang held the next positions, respectively, with 1.5 billion USD, 1.5 billion USD and 1.3 billion USD.

Compared to the list in 2022, the number of USD billionaires in Vietnam decreased by 1 person.

Novaland Chairman Bui Thanh Nhon was no longer on the list when the price for Novaland shares (NVL) fell about 70%. In 2022, Nhon had assets of 2.9 billion USD.

About 150 super-rich people are on stock exchange

The list of more than 1,000 Vietnamese super-rich people was not published by Knight Frank. However, on the stock exchange, there are about 150 businessmen and related people with assets from stocks worth more than 30 million USD. 

In addition to these six USD billionaires, there are people related to these billionaires such as Pham Nhat Vuong's wife – Pham Thu Huong (VND 8,800 billion); Tran Dinh Long's wife - Vu Thu Hien (VND9,000 billion); Ho Hung Anh’s wife - Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (VND5,700 billion); and Nguyen Dang Quang’s wife - Nguyen Hoang Yen… 

Others are major shareholders of large corporations such as Sunshine (Do Anh Tuan), Vicostone (Ho Xuan Nang), FPT (Truong Gia Binh), VPBank (Ngo Chi Dung), Vinh Hoan (VHC), KBC (Dang Thanh Tam), Phat Dat Real Estate (PDR), Duc Giang Chemical (DGC), Mobile World (MWG), Gelex (GEX), REE, ACB, SSI, HDG, VNZ, HAG, Sacombank (STB) , TCH, SeABank (SSB), Kinh Do (KDC), HDBank (HDB), CEO, Dat Xanh (DXG), PC1, VCI Securities, Hoa Sen (HSG), Nam Long (NLG), TPBank (TPB), DIC Corp. (DIG), Minh Phu (MPC), Dabaco (DBC), OCB, SIP, SHB Bank, LPBank (LPB), Digiworld (DGW), Ha Do (HDG), and L18.

Some businesspeople suddenly fell out of the list of super-rich people on the stock market such as Chairman of LienVietPostBank (LPB) Nguyen Duc Thuy. He is still considered on the super-rich list because he was rated after the six billionaires ranked by Forbes. In November 2021, Thuy held more than 85.9 million Thaiholdings shares, worth over VND21,000 billion.

Many businessmen holding shares of PNJ, QCG, VND, VPI are also close to the super-rich threshold.

Pham Hong Linh - sister of Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong's wife - is also close to the super-rich threshold (with over VND 700 billion) if only counting assets attributable to shares of Vingroup (VIC).

Many super-rich people have not been unveiled yet

In Vietnam, many entrepreneurs are famous and considered super rich, even USD billionaires. But they are not on any rankings, such as real estate-financial tycoon Nguyen Thi Nga, Mr. Vu Van Tien, Mr. Dao Hong Tuyen, and Mr. Johnathan Hanh Nguyen.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga's family is related to the BRG Group, SeaBank, and Intimex. BRG now operates large golf courses such as Kings' Island Golf Resort and Legend Hill Golf Resort. The companies owned by Mrs. Nga's family also invest in Hilton Hanoi Opera and Hilton Hanoi Inn.

Other prominent faces include Mr. Do Minh Phu (Doji Group), Mr. Do Quang Hien (T&T Group), Mr. Dang Van Thanh's family (Thanh Thanh Cong Group), and "shrimp king" Le Van Quang.

Many Vietnamese family corporations have become empires in certain fields of business.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dien's family runs the An Phuoc Garment - Embroidery – Footwear Co., Ltd, a large textile and garment enterprise with over 7,000 employees and 11 factories across the country, the An Phuoc - Pierre Cardin store system (165 stores), and more than 60 Bonjour - Anamai brand stores.

There are also families such as Doan Quoc Viet (BIM Group), Tran Kim Thanh-Tran Le Nguyen (Kido), Vuu Khai Thanh (Biti's), Tran Qui Thanh (Tan Hiep Phat), Le Van Kiem (Long Thanh Golf), Nguyen Hoang Tuan (Son Kim), Ly Ngoc Minh (Minh Long porcelain), Tran Thanh Hai-Tran Thi Le (Nutifood), Nguyen Tri Tan (Kymdan), and Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong (Tan A Dai Thanh).

Manh Ha